halvorsen



H, B. HALVORSEN. LUBHICA'HNG MECHANISM FOR COMF BESSOBS.

Y. v APPLICATION FILED OCT. 30, I918.

1 417 058 Patented May 23, 1922.

21SHEETS-SHEET 2..

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I I by M I for other UNITED STATES HALBEBT B. HALVORSEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNGR T SULLIVA ERY GOMIPANY, A CORPORATION OF ll/IASSACI-IUSETTS.

LUBRIGATING MECI-IANISIYI FOB, COMPRESSOR-S.

ToaZZ whom it may concern:

men, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lubricating Mechanism for Compressors, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to lubricating mech anism for air and other gas compressors and especially to mechanism for supplying lubricant to the cylinders of such compressors, although applicable, if desired, to lubricators parts of the compressor mecha nism,

In the use of compressors of the character referred to, particularly in the case of large units or systems, it is customary to provide means forunloading the compressor at intervals to interrupt the compressing action thereof without stopping the actuating motor or the compressor itself, said unloading means usually being controlled by the receiver pressure, whereby when said pressure reaches a predetermined maximum the compressor will be rendered temporarily inoperative, and when said receiver pressure falls below a predetermined minimum the compressor will be again rendered operative, thereby automatically maintaining the receiver pressure between predetermined limits. Such compressors are usually provided with means for supplying lubricant to the cylinder or cylinders thereof, and it is found that when the compressor is runing idly during the unloaded periodsa less quantity of lubricant is necessary than when the compressor is running loaded. The present invention has for its general object to provide means whereby the quantity of lubricant supplied will be automatically controlled in accordance with the loaded or unloaded con dition of the compressor, the supply being decreased or discontinued entirely when the compressor is unloaded, thereby resulting in a greater economy in the use of lubricant, and decreasing the ditliculties due to the presence of excess lubricant in the compressor cylinder or cylinders and in the compressed air or other discharged therefrom.

The foregoing and other more particular objects of the invention, together with means whereby the same may be carried into effect, will best be understood from the following PATENT @fFFlCE.

N Iv'LACHIN- Specification of Letters Patent. Pat nt d ltj 23 1922 Application filed October 30, 1918.

Serial No. 280,306.

descrlption of certain forms or embodiments thereof illustrated in the accompanying orawlngs. It will be understood, however,

that the particular constructions and arrangements described and shown have been chosen for illustrative purposes merely, and that the invention, as defined by the claims hereunto appended, may be otherwise practiced without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. 7

In said drawings,

Fig. l is a side elevation of compressor equlpped with apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail sectional view of a portion of the force feed lubricator.

Fig. 3'is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the parts in a difierent position.

Fig. 4.- is a view similar to Fig. l illustrating another form of the invention.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view, taken substantially on the line 55, Fig. l, of the means for operativelv connecting the lubricator with the actuating mechanism therefor. i

6 is a sectional view of the air inlet for the low pressure cylinder, showing the unloading valve therein. i

Referring to Fig. 1, one form of the invention is therein illustrated as applied to an angle compound compressor of a well known type,the same comprising a low pressure cylinder 10 having an inlet 11 and a high pressure cylinder 12 having a discharge conduit 13, said cylinders having interposed between them an intercooler let and being provided with pistons (not shown) operatively connected to a common crank shaft 15 provided with a flywheel or driving pulley16.

illustrative of meansfor unloading the compressor, there is herein shown an unloading valve 17 for controlling the flow of air through the inlet 11 to the low pressure cylinder 10, said unloading valve being preferably controlled through suitable means (not shown) by the receiver pressure or the pressure at the discharge side of the conmressor. The details of the unloading valve and the means for controlling the same are not shown and will not be described herein, as such devices are well known in the art, may be of any usual or well known type, and spesilica ly form no portion of t as present invention,

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tail.

Compressors of the type herein shown are usually provided with lubricating systems comprising separate mechanisms for supplying lubricant to the bearings and to the cylinders respectively. As illustrative of such a system, there is herein indicated at 18 a lubricant forcing device for supplying lubricant to the bearings, and a second lubricant forcing device 19 for supplying oil to the cylinders, the device 18 being actuated by a lever 20 connected by a link 21 with a crank disk 22 on the crank shaft 15, and the device 1.9 being provided with an operating arm 23 connected by a rod 24 with the lever 20. The lubricator 18 forms no portion of the present invention and may be, of any usual or well known type. Similarly, the lubricator 19 may be of any suitable character, but is herein illustrated as being of the well known McCord force feed type, such as is usually connected by the cnstomary check valved oil pipes 19. with the compressor cylinders and which is sufficiently well known not to require description in de- For the purpose of the present description, it will be sufiicient to say that said lubricator comprises a casing 25 (Fig. 2) containing suitable lubricant forcing and distributing means actuated from a shaft 26 provided with a ratchet wheel 27 controlled by a holding pawl 28 and actuated by an operating pawl 29 carried by a swinging pawl carrier 30 actuated by the arm23, whereby as said arm is oscillated by the rod 24 the shaft 26 will be intermittently rotated, thereby actuating the lubricant forcing devices.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fi s. 1 to 3, the operation of the lubri cant orcing devices of the lubricator 19 is controlled, or rendered operative or inoperative, in accordance with the loading and unloading of the compressor, by controlling the engagementof the operating pawl 29 with the ratchet wheel 27 through suitable connections with the unloading valve 17 To this end, the pawl 29 is provided with a finger 31 which is engaged by a cam 32 pivoted at 33 on a bracket 34: in the casing 25, said cam being oscillated by an arm 35 connected by a rod 36 with one arm of a bell crank lever 37 fulcrumed on the casing of the unloading valve 17 and having its other arm engaged by a shoulder or collar 38 on the unloading valve stem 39. When the unloading valve is open, the cam 32 is normally held in inoperative position out of engagement with the finger 31, as shown in Fig. 2,'by means of a spring 40 interposed between the wall of the casing 25 and a collar 41 on the rod 36, the movement of said rod under the influence of said spring being preferably limited by a second collar 42 on said rod adapted to engage said casing wall.

In operation, when the unloading valve is closed to unload the compressor, downward movement of the valve stem 39 will cause the collar 38 thereon to engage and rock the lever 37 upon its pivot, thereby moving the rod 86 longitudinally toward the right against the tension of the spring 40, and causing the cam 32 to be so turned upon its pivot as to engage the finger 31 and lift the pawl 29 out of engagement with the to disengage the finger 31, and permitting the pawl 29 to reengage,the ratchet 27, thereby re-establishing the operative connection to the lubricator 19 and causing said lubricator to operate in the usual manner.

' The compressor shown in Fig. 4c is substantially identical with thatshown in Fig. 1, as are also the unloading valve 17, lubricantforcing devices 18 and 19, and mechanism for actuating the latter. In this form of the invention, however, the control of the lubricator 19 is obtained through the connection between the operating rod 24 and operating arm 23 of thelubricator 19, and

is effected by means of variations in pres sure in'the intake 4-3 (Fig. 6) of the low pressure cylinder 10, between the unloading valve 17 and said cylinder, incidental to-the closing of said valve. As herein shown, the means for accomplishing these results are as follows:

The connection between the rod 24 and arm 23 comprises a casing 14 suitably secured to the arm 23, as by aset screw 45 (Fig. 5), said casing comprising a cylinder portion 46 having opposite end heads 47 and The end head 48 is formed with sleeve-like portion 49 in which the'rod 24 is received and guided for longitudinal movement, said rod being preferably provided within the casing with an enlarged head 50, whereby accidental withdrawal thereof from said casing is prevented. Vithin the cylinder portion a6 is a piston 51 normally held in engagement with the head 50 ofthe rod 24: by means of a coiled spring 52 interposed between said piston and the end head 17, said spring being of sufiicient strength to transmit the motion of the rod 2% to the easing H and arm The piston 51 is preferably of hollow construction, as shown, to receive the adjacent end of the spring 52, and also to receive the end of a stop rod 53 arranged coaXial with the spring and projecting inwardly from the end head #17. Communicating with the cylinder portion 46 at the end thereof adjacent the head 47, l

ing of the unloading valve 1 is a port 54 which is connected with the compressor intake by suitable conduit means, herein shown as a flexible hose 55.

The operation of this form of the invention is as follows: During the normal or loaded operation of the compressor, the sprin 52 holds the piston 51 in engagement with the head of the rod 24, thereby providing an abutment for the end of said rod whereby an operative connection is provided through the casing 44 between said rod and the arm 23, so that longitudinal reciprocation of said rod causes a corresponding oscillation of the arm 23 and operation 01 the lubricator 19 in the usual manner. When, however, the compressor is unloaded by clos- 7, reciprocation of the piston in the low pressure cylinder 10 will result in the formation of a partial vacuum in the intake 43, which partial vacuum is communicated to the cylinder 46 above the piston 51 through the conduit and port 54. The fit of the rod 24 in the cylinder 49 is relatively loose, whereby atmospheric pressure is admitted to the lower side of the piston 51, which pressure, dur ing the condition of partial vacuum in the upper end or the cylinder 46, overcomes the pressure of the spring 52, causing the piston 51 to move upwardly out of engagement with the head 50 or the rod 24 and into engagement with the end of the stop rod 53.

The abutment for the end of the rod 24 furnished by the piston 51 being thereby removed, the rod 24 is free to reciprocate longitudinally in the sleeve 49 without communicating its movement through the casing 44 to the arm 23, so that the operative connection between said arm and rod is broken, and the operation of, the lubricator 19 interruptedduring the unloaded period of the compressor.

It will be obvious that the parts may be so proportioned as to cause operation of the mechanism last described to disconnect the lubricator 19 from its actuating means entirely, and thereby completely stop the operation of said lubricator, or otherwise to vary the operation of said lubricator, as by reducing the amount of lubricant supplied thereby on each cycle of. opeation oi the compressor. For example, if the range of movement of the piston 51, as determined by the length of the stop rod 53, be equal to or greater than the range of longitudinal movement of the rod 24, said rod will reciprocate idly in the sleeve 49 throughout its entire stroke, sothat no motion will be communicated therefrom through the casing 44 to the arm 23, and the lubricator 19 will remain inoperative. If, however, the length or the stop rod 53 be such that the range or, movement or the piston 51 is less thanthat of the rod 24, there will result a form of lost motion connection between said rod and easing 44, so that said casing will move with said rod during a portion only of the stroke of the latter in both directions, and the arm 23 he oscillated with a reduced amplitude, causing the operative stroke of the luhricator 19 at each cycle of operation of the compressor to be shortened and the supply of, lubricant correspondingly reduced without being discontinued altogether. It will thus be obvious that rods 53 of different length may be used if desired or that the distance the rod 53 is screwed into the head 47 may be varied to secure the same result.

In this application I shall claim specifically the form of my invention shown in Fig ures 4 to 6 and shall present the broad claims t the generic invention disclosed in both the species shown herein together with specific claims to the form of my invention shown in Figures 1 to 3 in my divisional application, Serial No. 400,714, filed August 2, 1920. In this case the claims will be presented to that form in which the control is by condi tions in the compressor system and by the conditionswhich are engendered by the unloading and reloading of the compressor,

i. e. by the conditions which result from and follow after the operation of the unloading mechanism, so that instead of simultaneous control of the lubricator with the unloading means as in my application, Serial No. 400,714, there is a sequential operation.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the present invention provides means whereby the amount 01 lubricant forced into the compressor cylinders may be directly controlled by the loaded or unloaded condition of the compressor, so as to be reduced or otherwise varied when the compressor is running unloaded, or discontinued altogether during such unloaded period, as may be desirable in accordance with the requirements.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a compressor having means for unloading the same, of lubricating means for said compressor provided with means whereby it may be driven during the running of the compressor, and mains governed by fluid pressure variations incidental to the loaded and unloaded conditions of the compressor tor controlling said lubricating means.

2. The combination with having means for unloading the same, of mechanically driven lubricating means for said compressor, and means For controlling the operation of salt lLlbIlCtltlDg means governed by conditions in said compressor resulting from the loading and unloading thereof. i

The combination with a compressor system comprising :1 compressor, a driving ilotor therefor, and means for unloading a compressor said compressor without interrupting the driving thereof by said motor, of lubricating means for said compressor controlled by conditions in said compressor system resulting from the unloading and loading of the col n pressor.

The combination with a compressor having unloading means, of a mechanical force feed lubricator for said compressor controlled by conditions engendered by the loading or unloading of said compressor.

5. The combination with a compressor, of mechanically driven lubricating means therefor controlled by variations in fluid pressure incidental to the loading and unloading of said compressor.

6. The combination with a compressor, of lubricant forcing means therefor controlled during operation of the compressor by variations in fluid pressure incidental to the loading and unloading of said compressor.

7. The combination with a compressor having unloading means cooperating therewith, of lubricatii'lg means for the compres-- sor, and means controlled by conditions arising from the loading and unloading of said compressor for varying the operation of the lubricating means.

8. The combination with a compressor, of lubricating means therefor, and means controlled by variations in fluid pressure incidental. to the loading and unloading of said compressor for varying the operation of said lubricating means.

9. The combination with a compressor having a cylinder, of mechanically driven means controlled by the conditions in said compressor resulting from the loading or unloading thereof for supplying lubricant to said cylinder.

10. The combination with a, compressor having a cylinder, of means actuated by the compressor driving means and controlled by fluid pressure variations incidental to the loaded or unloaded condition. of said compressor for forcing lubricant into said. oyliiiider.

11. The combination with a compressorhaving a cylinder, of means for su 'iplying lubricant to said cylinder, said lubricant supplying means being controlled by variations in fluid pressureincidental to the load ing and unloading of said compressor while the latter is operating.

12. The combination with a compressor, of lubricatil'm' means therefor and actuating means for sa 1 lubricating means rendered o 'ierative or inoperative by variations in conditions in said compressor resulting fn'ml a loading and unloading thereof.

13. The combination with a compressor.

of lubricating means therefor, actuating means for said lubricating means, said actuating means being rendered operative or inoperative by variations in fluid pressure incidental to the loading and unloading of said compressor. y

14. The combination with a compressor having unloading means, of lubricating means therefor, and means controlled by fluid pressure variations'incidental to the loaded or unloaded condition of said compressor for rendering said lubricating means operative or inoperative.

15. The combination with a compressor having a cylinder and provided with lubricant pumping means, and unloading means for said compressor, of means rendered operative or inoperative upon variations in pressure incidental to the loadedor unloaded condition of said compressor for actuating said lubricant umping means.

16. The com ina-t-ion with a compressor, of lubricating means therefor, and means for actuating said lubricating means including a connection rendered operative or inoperative by variations in fluid pressure incidental to the loading and unloading of said compressor.

17. The combination with a compressor, of lubricating means therefonineans for actuating said lubricating means, and means for operatively connecting said lubricating means and actuating means including a piston and a spring for normally holding said piston in operative position, said piston be ing subjected to variations in pressure incidental to the loading and unloading of said compressor, whereby when said compressor is unloaded said piston is moved into a position to disconnect said lubricating means from said actuating mean s.

18. The combination with a compressor having an intake and an unloading valve for controlling said intake, of lubricating means for said compressor, means for actuating said lubricating means. and means for operatively connecting said lubricating means and actuating means including a piston and a spring for normally holding said piston in operative position, said pistonbeing subjected to the fluid pressure in said intake beyond said unloading valve, whereby when said unloading valve is closed said piston is moved into a positionv to disconnectsaid lubricating means from said actuating means.

19. The combination with a compressor having an intake and an unloading valve for controlling said intake, of a lubricator for said compressor having an operating member, actuating means including a reciprocating rod,

a casing carried by. said operating member in which said rod is longitudinally movable, said casing having cylinder portion. a piston in said cylinder portion, a spring for normally holding said piston in engagement with said rod to restrain the same against movement with respect to said casing, and

conduit means connecting said cylinder portion with said intake, whereby when said unloading valve is'closed vacuum conditions in said intake cause movement of said piston out of engagement with said rod against the tension of said spring.

20. The combination with a compressor. of lubricating means therefor, a pawl and ratchet mechanism for operating said lubricating means, and means controlled by vari ations in pressure arising from the loaded or unloaded condition of said compressor for varying the operation of said pawl and ratchet mechanism.

21. The combination with a compressor, of lubricating means therefor, means controlled by the varied conditions incidental to the loaded or unloaded condition of said compressor for varying the operation of said lubricating means, and means adjustable to control the extent of variation thereof.

22. The combination with a compressor, of lubricating means therefor, pawl and ratchet mechanism for operating said lubrieating means, means controlled by variations in pressure incidental to the loaded or unloaded condition of said compressor for varying the operation of said pawl and ratchet mechanism, and means adjustable to control the. extent of variation thereof.

23. The combination with a compressor, of lubricating means therefor, means controlled by varied conditions incidental to the loaded or unloaded condition of said compressor for varying the operation of said lubricating means, and means adjustable to render said varying means inoperative.

24. The combination with a compressor, of lubricating means therefor, a movable member controlled by conditions in said compressor incidental to the loaded or unloaded condition of said compressor and operatively connected with said lubricating means for varying the operation thereof, and an adjustable abutment member for limiting the movement of said member.

25. The combination with a, compressor, of lubricating means therefor, a cylinder, a piston therein operatively connected. with said lubricating means for varying the op-- eration thereof, means for subjecting said piston to variations in fluid pressure incidental to the loading and unloading of said compressor, and an abutment member in threaded engagement with said cylinder for limiting the movement of said piston.

26. The combination with compressor having an intake unloader, of lubricating means for the portions of said compressor subjected to the heat developed during com pression, said lubricating means being rendered operative or inoperative by variation in conditions in said compressor engendered by opening and closing of said intake unloader.

27. The combination with a compressor having unloading means, of lubicating means for said compressor, and means controlled by variations in fluid pressure within said con'ipressor incidental to the operation, of said unloading means for varying the operation of said lubricating means.

28. The combination with a compressor having unloading means, of lubricating means therefor adapted to be driven during the period of running of the compressor, said lubricating means being controlled by the pressure conditions in the compressor at a point beyond the unloading means.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HALBERT B. HALVORSEN. 

